Wishing God Hates Us All was a real book
August 1, 2016 1:12 PM   Subscribe

Re-watching Californication I find myself wishing that the fictional God Hates Us All (S1) or even Fucking and Punching (S1 through S3) was a real book. Which book would come close to the mix of love, sex, drugs and rock 'n roll that is the first few seasons of Californication?
posted by wolfr to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Not sure which particular volume would fit the bill best, but you'd probably be pretty satisfied with anything from Bukowski to William Burroughs to Bret Easton Ellis or Chuck Palahniuk. I've always imagined his character was based on some kind of mix of those guys.
posted by General Malaise at 1:48 PM on August 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Apparently it is a real book now. Don't know how well it captures the series, but you can take a look.
posted by Hactar at 1:56 PM on August 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Have you tried Murakami Ryƫ?
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:03 PM on August 1, 2016


from the perspective of a female protagonist, try South on Highland by Liana Maeby.
posted by mullacc at 3:28 PM on August 1, 2016


You could try Shopping and Fucking, just for the similar "look at what I'm reading on the subway" effect. Have to confess I haven't seen Californication, but S&F certainly covers the sex and drugs areas pretty thoroughly.
posted by penguin pie at 3:54 PM on August 1, 2016


TINKHAM: Has there been much discussion through the years about the content of Hank's books? Do you have a clear idea of what they're about?

DUCHOVNY: No. I would imagine they're something like the show: comedies of manners and tragedies of bad choices; books that have crazy plots and memorable characters, I would think. I always thought maybe something like Jonathan Franzen. Obviously, Rick Moody was somebody in Tom's mind. Douglas Coupland maybe. For me, Warren Zevon was kind of a touchstone, but he's not a novelist. He's a songwriter, but he writes about L.A. types. Bukowski would be another one. Take your pick, any of those guys.
posted by MonkeyToes at 4:11 PM on August 1, 2016


What you're looking for is Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman. It's a memoir, but it fulfills your s/d/r+r criteria pretty perfectly.
posted by windbox at 4:41 PM on August 1, 2016


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